We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

Slavery, torture, and cannibalism—tell me why we’re celebrating “Indigenous People’s Day” again? And we’re getting rid of Columbus Day to protest—what? The fact that one group of slavery-practicing violent people conquered another group of violent, blood-thirsty slavers? That’s a precis of the history of the Americas before Columbus arrived.

This has always been the fatal flaw of the Left’s politics of race guilt: Name the race that’s not “guilty”? Racism, violence, and conquest are part of the human condition, not the European one.

The deal appears to be, however, a largely symbolic concession to Ms. Merkel’s Bavaria allies that may change little in practice, partly because the right to asylum is enshrined in Germany’s constitution.

Disgusting. Licensed dietitians were pushing the myth of "fat bad, carbs good" well after it was shown to be wrong. Yet where is the accountability that licensing is supposed to ensure?

I hope the IJ wins this case and breaks down another protection racket.

[i] Detroit Firefighter Fired for Bringing Watermelon to Station House{/i]

Let Detroit burn. Lots of people like watermelon, if the racists who got offended can't understand this, then let them live in squalor. (Although I suggest they be deported back to a continent more suitable for their preferred lifestyle)

I am opposed to bureaucratic laws/regulations but even more opposed to non-judicial punishment. I would argue that a bureaucracy should only be allowed to enforce legitimately passed laws and only through the courts. I also think that the slippery slope of fiscal punishments (fines) is a mistake. What is the difference between extortion and telling a citizen that you will fine the $1000 a day unless they stop something you don't like. This should not be a shade of grey. Either you break the law and go to court or you did not. No anonymous bureaucrat should be allowed to be judge, jury and jailer/money grabber. Make it a class D misdemeanor if it must be legally sanctioned and if it does not rise to that then leave the person alone.

Columbus landed in the middle of a war between Caribs and Arawaks. Pizarro either arrived in the middle of or triggered a lower-classes uprising among the Incas. Cortez exploited a war between the Aztecs and pretty much everybody.

And remember that despite their legends to the contrary, the high-plains Centaur culture could not have developed without the introduction of the horse to North America.

You could make a case for pushing civilization in the direction of festival days that celebrated only peaceful accomplishments--but as Bruno Bettelheim said, kids like to play with tin soldiers, not tin pacifists. A festival's no good if people won't spontaneously celebrate it.

You mean like the Portuguese discovering Brazil as a consequence of their exploration of the African coast? Or John Cobot discovering North America.

And ironically, we celebrate Columbus Day as a nod toward the early 20th century Italian immigrants, who took Columbus up as a hero.

QUOTE:

The day was first enshrined as a legal holiday in the United States through the lobbying of Angelo Noce, a first generation Italian, in Denver. The first statewide holiday was proclaimed by Colorado governor Jesse F. McDonald in 1905, and it was made a statutory holiday in 1907.[8] In April 1934, as a result of lobbying by the Knights of Columbus and New York City Italian leader Generoso Pope, Congress and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed October 12 a federal holiday under the name Columbus Day.

Otherwise, we probably would have only celebrated the centennials, so one celebration in 1992 in living memory.

Follow the money. This is about victimhood and reward. That is also what the flag protests claim to be about. It doesn't have to be based in fact it merely needs popularity and sympathy. Just imagine if you found out today that your great, great grandfather had been mistreated by some group and the descendants of that group was around today and had more wealth than you do. But there would be no legal recourse of course because the law doesn't hold distant relatives responsible for what their great, great grandfathers did. So you have to go to the court of public opinion. But there are too many distractions in our world to get attention unless you do something outrageous. So... you do something outrageous; tear down statues, disrespect the flag in front of a TV audience of 50 million, riot in the streets and steal Nike shoes, whatever. Eventually between those who sympathize and those you are extorting someone throws money at you to shut up and you win. It's the new American way.

Ok. So now the world knows what the rest of the folks in the Hollywood CA area have always known: the desire for ultimate power and wealth is created by a need for dominance, which may or may not be controlled in one's private life. Typically, be it in the world of commerce, or the world of entertainment--there is no requirement for restraint. There of course, used to be the Chrisitan churches, but they have been forced to bow to the mandates of people like Weinstein. Go back and check your memory--where, who were the first group to demand that homosexuality bet treated like genetic mistake? Hollywood. Who have the power to buy a research group in a small Swedish university? But, most importantly who had the power to put this idea -- homosexuality is genetic--into the teaching, the culture of this country? Who did that through their command of the most powerful medium--film? Who did that on our tv sets every night, every program, year in and year out till finally --well you all know where we are at with this now. Just remember to connect the da&n dots !

RE Indigenous People:(1) There are no people indigenous to North or South America. The ancestors of the so called native Americans came over from Asia (and that group migrated from elsewhere). My people came later from Europe and brought with them a better culture and better values. (2) The myth of the noble savage is just that - a myth. The uncivilized pagans of the New World were savages who tortured their captives for entertainment and often engaged in cannibalism. My ancestors no doubt did the same many centuries before. Nobody is "noble" - we're all sinful humans. Some of us show more restraint than others.

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